The IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access) Collective focuses on an important goal: Support Maine educators as they explore ways to develop materials and practices for inclusion, diversity, equity, and access. In particular, MCELA invites educators to think about, discuss, and take steps to address issues related to racism, income disparity, gender identity, environmental justice, equity, genocide, and indigenous sovereignty.Each month, the IDEA Collective of MCELA will share a resource for educators to explore and consider using in their practice and with their students. 

In honor of Women’s History Month, IDEA offers a link to the National Women’s History Alliance, where you can find more information about the 2022 Women’s History Month theme “Providing Healing, Promoting Hope” as well as classroom resources. We also offer the poem “Responsibility” by Grace Paley, a poem that asks us to consider the value of looking at the world through the eyes of women, and we invite you to share this with your students and let us know what happens.

Responsibility by Grace Paley

It is the responsibility of society to let the poet be a poet
It is the responsibility of the poet to be a woman
It is the responsibility of the poet to stand on street corners
giving out poems and beautifully written leaflets
also leaflets you can hardly bear to look at
because of the screaming rhetoric
….more here

Looking for more? Check out the NCTE Guidelines for Affirming Gender Diversity through ELA Curriculum and Pedagogy ​
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Introducing the IDEA Collective
Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access for Teachers of English Language Arts

Members of the MCELA Executive Board created this working group to focus on an important goal: Support Maine educators as they explore ways to develop materials and practices for inclusion, diversity, equity, and access. In particular, MCELA invites educators to think about, discuss, and take steps to address issues related to racism, income disparity, gender identity, environmental justice, equity, genocide, and indigenous sovereignty.

Each month, the IDEA Collective of MCELA will share a resource for educators to explore and consider using in their practice and with their students. This month, we invite teachers to explore the Samantha Smith Challenge, a program based on Maine artist Robert Shetterly’s work in Americans Who Tell the Truth. Not ready to take on a project with students? Consider exploring the materials and resources at Americans Who Tell the Truth as a way to introduce to students the people from history and in the world today who raise their voices about issues related to justice and equity.